Staying Safe Online - Do’s and Don'ts

Staying safe online is pretty easy. It’s a big place out there on the web, but there are actually quite a lot of things that people do every day that help to keep them safe, as well as things that you just shouldn’t do. It doesn’t matter if you’re trying to access the internet from the workplace or at home; the same basic rules apply.

If you’re new to internet culture and don’t necessarily know how to stay safe online, that’s fine. Let’s take a look at what you need to know to make sure that you make smart decisions.

Do Invest in Internet Security

The first thing that you should do is invest in internet security. Internet security is an important part of everyday life because it protects you from viruses and malware. Whilst the bulk of websites are safe to visit because they have their own security systems, there are moments when browsing turns up a few potential risks.

Getting the right security can help to prevent this. The only thing you need to make sure you do is to download a fully working antivirus and update it regularly. If you do that, then you successfully keep yourself safe from the bulk of threats that exist.

Don’t Hand Out Personal Information

Obviously, handing out your personal information to people you don’t know online is a great way to wind up with a virus or be a victim of identity theft. Therefore, the most sensible thing that you can possibly do is make sure that you don’t hand out personal information.

The thing about personal information is that it may seem seemingly innocuous at the time. Somebody might ask you for your age or the area that you live in out of curiosity, so you might willingly divulge that information, but you have to realise that cybercriminals are often playing a very long game. They use these small pieces of information of a time to build up a profile of you.

Do Use Protected Internet

So, regardless of where you access the online world from, you need to make sure that it is a protected source. This means that you need to use either your own home network or the workplace network. Never go to somewhere like a public café and use the internet from there because these types of networks are very badly protected and are easy targets for hackers.

Don’t Click Dodgy Sites

If you’re asked to find resources for work purposes, and you find a website that flags up your security program, just come out of it and find something else. There are plenty of other resources, and it’s not worth it. These websites have been flagged for a reason, so they may not be safe.

Final Thoughts

So, ultimately, when it comes to things like being safe online, it’s very simple to make the right decisions. We’ve all been educated to some extent about the dangers of online activity, but you can make very easy, ordinary decisions every day to keep yourself safe. A lot of it boils down to using trusted websites and being sensible.